Published: 18-11-2022 15:17 | Updated: 23-11-2022 12:59

New thesis on stomach cancer

Johannes Asplund
Johannes Asplund

Johannes Asplund at the research group Upper GI Surgery, the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, will defend his thesis "Towards an improved survival in gastric cancer" on November 25th, 2022.
Main Supervisor is Jesper Lagergren.

What's the main focus of your thesis? 

Stomach cancer, with a focus on factors influencing patients’ survival after surgery.  

Which are the most important results? 

Incidence of cancer in the upper part of the stomach is increasing, while cancer in the middle and lower part is decreasing. For the decreasing proportion of patients being operated for their stomach cancer, survival is increasing, especially for those with cancer in the upper part of the stomach.  

Long-term survival does not seem to differ between patients with stomach cancer operated at hospitals with high volume of stomach surgery compared to low volume of surgery. Similarly, survival does not seem to differ between patients operated by surgeons with high volume compared to surgeons with low volume of surgery. But there is a learning curve for surgeons starting to operate stomach cancer during which long-term survival seems to be worse for the patient. 

How can this new knowledge contribute to the improvement of people's health? 

Information on changes in incidence and survival is important to understand effects of changes in detection and treatment over time. Knowledge of how surgeons’ operative volume and learning curves affect prognosis in stomach cancer is valuable for optimal strategic planning of health care, with the aim to improve survival for these patients.  

What are your future ambitions?  

During my time as a PhD-student I have collected data and worked with a large cohort of patients. This data base can provide answers to many yet unanswered questions. I plan to continue research with more studies on the subject.  

Dissertation 

Friday November 25, 2022 at 9:00, Aulan Södersjukhuset, Sjukhusbacken 10

Contact

Johannes Asplund Affiliated to Research